~Disclaimer...I own almost seventy bishys!!! Still don't own this series though... (sniffle)

Sashiburi, minna-san!! I'm baaaaack! Bwahahaha!!!!! I'm probably going to rush the next few chapters so I can get to the funny again. I'm gonna try to start working on this fic again, but I have several others *coughelevencough* going too and I don't want to abandon them like I did this one... *sniffle* I'M SOOO SORRY!!! WAHHHH!!!! Don't hurt me?

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Naraku stared in astonishment at Shizuka. Such a story he had never expected! He knew he had felt extremely drawn to her ever since she had appeared in his world, but now she was saying that they were destined to destroy the world together? But still, he couldn't deny that somehow her words rung true. Somehow, he knew that this was what he had desired all along. Deep within a place hidden from his conscious mind, all he wanted was to destroy all existance with this raven-haired, dark goddess at his side.

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Asami led InuYasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku toward the final battle. The battle which would decide the fate of all life. There were many things weighing heavily on Asami.

Pausing for a moment's rest, Sango noticed the girl's silence and spoke softly to her. "Asami-san, I know you're commited to this course, but there must be some way to save your sister."

Asami shook her head and said, "No. There is no way. Shizuka must die. But that is not what is bothering me." At this she paused and hung her head. "Sango-san, there are things I have yet to tell you, but must be told."

Kagome, Miroku and even InuYasha paused in what they were doing to listen.

Asami continued on quietly. "You see, the pillars of life exist for one reason. To allow life to continue. They were born for this purpose only. However, that is not their only desire." She raised her head and looked the four over. "They desire normalcy. When they...you...were born into these forms it was in the hope that you could lead normal mortal lives, for at least one lifetime. But that hope is about to be destroyed."

"Why?" Miroku asked. "After we defeat Naraku and your sister, we should be able to return to normal lives."

Asami shook her head. "No. You see, in order for a pillar to preform their task, they must be freed from mortal flesh."

Gasps issued from all around.

"Wait a minute!" InuYasha yelled angrily. "You mean we have to DIE!!? Just when were you planning on telling us that!?"

Asami stood up intenly and said, "I am hoping it will not come to that. Though death would free your essences, it is not the same for Shizuka and Naraku. For their powers to be unleashed, they would have to die in a very specific way. Because a pillar of death is constantly straining against the flesh they're imprisioned in, they would have to increase their power enough to actually burst out of their flesh, releasing what's inside."

Kagome had a suddden image of Naraku exploding and quickly pushed it to the back of her mind with a mental, 'Ewwww...'

"However," Asami continued, "There have been complications."

"What kind of complications?" InuYasha asked suspiciously.

"When Shizuka was eight years old, she forged a weapon of pure darkness capable of freeing a pilar of their flesh. She has only to use it and both she and Naraku will be freed from their mortal bodies and return to plunge everything back into the darkness of the void. I am hoping that something of the one that was my sister still remains inside her and will hold off the darkness until we can reach her. Then we can kill her, without resorting to releasing your souls."

"Then what are we waiting for?" InuYasha declared. "Let's get moving!"

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Shizuka stood smiling warmly at him, an otherworldly glow surrounding her form, the windows to her back. A black wind circled around her, lifting her hair and caressing her skin. Naraku shivered as the wind traveled away from her toward him. It carressed him gently and he felt his eyes close. It left warm kisses all over his exposed skin and blew through his hair. Then he heard her words, whispered and carried on the wind. "Together," it whispered.

Without warning, Shizuka lept forward, leaving Naraku no time to react. She drew from a sheath hidden at her back a wicked looking curved dagger. She wrapped one arm around his waist and plunged the dagger deep into his chest, piercing what would have been vital organs, if he were human. His eyes snapped open and she grinned maliciously at the confused and pained face of her love. Yes, she loved him. She loved him so deeply that she would release him. She would release him as he had her. She withdrew the dagger and dropped it to the floor with a hollow clank. The blade was solid black.

Naraku let out a groan as he felt his body begin to disentagrate. The pain he felt went beyond physical torment. It felt as if his soul were trying to escape his body. As if what was inside was trying to find it's way out. It was if his entire being were slipping away. Dropping to his knees, he could still feel her arms around. He wanted to ask why, why had she done such a thing. But his voice was frozen in his throat.

Shizuka held her love tightly, cradling him in her arms. "Shh," she whispered to him. "It's alright. I've just set you free." She brushed a strand of hair off his forehead as the ground began to shake. "Soon we'll be together. Soon we'll end this world and we'll be together forever."

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As the ground shook beneath their feet, InuYasha cried, "What the hell!?"

Asami cried out in terror. A castle had appeared directly in front of them. Appearantly, they weren't hunting them anymore. The earthquake raged on, showing no signs of stopping. The skys turned black and a fierce wind tore across the land. Beams of dark light shot up from holes torn open in the earth.

Asami thought for a moment before saying, "There's still a chance! We have to get to Shizuka before she manages to use the dagger on herself!"

"Well how do you know she hasn't!?" InuYasha demanded.

"Because!" she replied, "If both of them were free, we wouldn't be standing here! Naraku's power is what comes first! They're two halves of a whole! One can't complete the destruction without the other!"

"Then let's go kill the bitch!" InuYasha shouted.

All five turned to the castle, intent on stopping her. However, no one said it would be easy. Between them and the castle stood an army of demons the likes of which the world had never seen.

"Those must be the demons that made up Naraku's body!" Asami called. "When he was freed, so were they! This means they're more powerful than normal demons!"

InuYasha drew Tetsusaiga. "Well, then we'll just have to get rid of them in one blow!" he said, preparing to swing.

Raising her hands above her head, she began to chant under her breath. A ball of fire grew between, and throwing both hands out before her, she launched the ball of fire into the horde of demons, incinerating a path of them straight through to Naraku's castle.

"Go!" she cried.

Everyone nodded and took their chance, running through the scorched ground toward the castle.

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(A/N) Hello! Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I've had this sitting on my computer for a while now, but I wasn't satisfied with it so I never posted it. I'm still not happy with it. It's too short in my book, but if I don't post it I'll never finish. Can you tell it's nearing it's end? Lol Well, R&R minna-san! I'm now accepting flames! OoO Yep! I'm a bit of a pyromaniac and each and every one will be used to fuel my insane desire for world domination through the use of fire and chipmunks! I will rule the world with my chipmunk army!!! Bwahahahahaha!!!!! *cough* Wait. If I'm the All Powerful Queen of the Universe, doesn't that mean I already rule the world? @_@

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Reviews make the world go 'round!! Yep! Yep!

Steph: Hey, no prob with not reviewing. 'Cause I haven't been writing! Well, not on this one anyway! Thanks for all your reviews though!

Neko-Kitsune: I know!! Don't worry! Shippou's gonna get into LOTS of mischief later! When it's safe to come out... ^__^ Wait and see what he does to Fluff-chan! ^___^ And thank you for liking it.

Dragon Fire: Fluffy: -_- I took your advise about the anti-bishi spray...but someone (looks to Bakura) STOLE it and used it to start numerous house fires! You're never gonna believe this but...there are now 64 bishys in this house!! That's right, my loving mate has taken it upon herself to defend her title as Mistress of Bishounen by capturing all the bishys known to her! ^_^ heh-heh, but I'm back in the bed! Appearantly she found she couldn't live without me and loves me more than she could ever love anyone else! ^__^ That or she realized most of her other bishys were human or close to it and would die soon while both of us will live on... -_- I prefer to think it's the first one... Nika: (glomps Fluffy) Oh you know it's the first one, Sess-chan! (looks at Chaos) However! (flaming background) WHO TOLD YOU TO GIVE MY MATE ANTI-BISHI SPRAY!!!?? (sudden change in attitude as she cuddles Fluffy) Ja ne!

FanFicFanatic: Thanks. Didn't update soon did I? But I did update and that's what counts!

Trinity Kirara: ^____^ Arigatou!

Sour Schuyler: ^__^ thankies! I'm glad you found it so funny that you reviewed twice with nothing but laughter! I love those kinds of reviews!

(looks around sadly) Hmmm, wonder if these people are still reading it... Probably not. -_-

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.